That good ending romantic grand finale number
by EmilyVonTrapp
Summary: "Maria," His voice suddenly changed to a much softer and compassionate sound rather than the tones his voice had before. "Maria, I just," He couldn't seem to find the right words "What have I done, to… to make you feel the need to run away?" A story starting from when Maria fled the party that night. Can Georg and Maria have that "good ending romantic grand finale number ending"?
1. Chapter 1

sooo... I haven't posted a tsom story in over a year... sorry... my inspiration was nowhere to be found... but now i'm back! It's 2:42 a.m. so I'm quickly going to catch those 3 hours of sleeping that I have left XD

Happy reading!

Em

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Georg sat at his desk head in his hands. How could this have happened? What could he possibly have done to have driven her away? He couldn't think clearly but he didn't know if it was because of what had happened or because of the glass of brandy resting within seconds reach of his hand. The room was dark only lit by a small desk lamp, and seemed to perfectly portrait his current mood. A feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Agathe had died. But he couldn't understand it. Why was he having such feelings of great loss, when she was… just the governess? But then it became clear.

She wasn't just the governess! She was so much more! The way she handled the children as though they were her own… The way only she could speak up to him when he was having one of his angry rages about how she should raise his children… The way she smiled… The way her hair stopped just below her ear perfectly showing the nape of her neck... The way her nose pointed slightly upwards which she would call a ski slope but what he (in his mind) would think to be just adorable.

He thought back to a conversation they had earlier that week.

" _Children! Are you ready?" Maria had decided that the children deserved a little outing after working so hard on their studies so she decided to take them picnicking, but of course the toys and books to bring had to be carefully selected and be reviewed by the excellent members of the jury, Marta and Gretl… So Maria decided to wait in the foyer. She looked at herself in the big mirror hanging above one of the side tables. Normally she would almost never look at her self in a mirror. Was it because the captain was coming too? The children insisted that he should come and did everything in their power to do so. She looked closer in the mirror before moving her fingers across her nose. "I always did have a ski slope for a nose…" She sighed obviously thinking she was alone "Hmm, I would say it looked more like a tiny little iceberg rather than a big ski slope" that was the captain. Maria's face turned bright red in embarrassment "Here, let me have a look" He turned her around to face him "No ski slope to be found" He stated. Maria, still embarrassed, decided to take a little stroll to the other side of the foyer after mumbling a little thank you. Well it probably just sounded like nothing rather than like actual words. From the corner of her eye she could see the captain fidgeting with his hair moving his hands over light grey edges of his temples. She let out a little laugh. "You know captain, getting grey hair isn't actually that bad" She softly stated to which the Georg in return quickly removed his hands from his temples to his coat trying to make it look as though he was just buttoning it up clearing his throat with a soft hum coming out his mouth…._

He got called back to reality by the sounds of music and laughter from the party guests still swaying across his ballroom. The ballroom that was closed before she came into his life, their life. Maria… Oh Maria… Maria! He shot up from his seat. It was pouring outside! Was she going to walk all by herself? At night? He quickly grabbed his coat off of his coat rack and ran to the hallway.

"Georg what in god's na-" Max asked when he saw his friend running through the foyer. "Max, you have been my friend for a long time, and there is just something I need to do, and I need you to trust me and above all not judge me for what I am about to do." With that he was out the door leaving Max's eyes with a following Georg's moves with a raised eyebrow and imaginary question marks hanging above his head.

Georg made his way to one of the garage doors. "Of course it's locked." He mumbled to himself. He couldn't possibly go back in there. Not when the party was still going and with Elsa being there to sweep him back onto the dance floor within seconds. He had to find her. Since there wasn't very much of an option he stepped with one foot into the muddy sand before his other foot followed and he started running. "Come on! Think! Where could she be going?" He asked the question out loud before he made a turn to the right. Of course the abbey!

The clouds and the heavy pouring made it hard to see anything but he just kept running. If anyone were to see him at this moment, that person would probably think him to be insane. But he didn't care. All he wanted was to find Maria, and make sure she was safe. He ran, and ran, and ran until he saw something oddly familiar lying on the road. It was Maria's hat, that, in his first opinion hideous hat, but which he later found lovely when it rested on top on Maria's short bobbed hair. He picked it up and started to look around for any sign of her. He looked up, and then he saw her, a couple of meters in front of him he could see a silhouette of a slim woman carrying a guitar case in one hand and a bag in the other. Instead of her usually straight up happy posture he could now vaguely see her head slouched down looking at the ground as she slowly walked along the muddy road.

He took a few seconds to catch his breath before he started walking, going just a bit quicker to catch up with her without losing his breath again. When he was within earshot he cleared his throat "Fräulein, did you lose this, or did you just decide to leave it here on the road?" He playfully said to her. Maria stopped walking. That voice… "Captain!" She dropped her bags to the floor and quickly wiped her hands under her eyes to get rid of the tears. Not that it helped much since her face was also covered in raindrops and the pouring still hadn't stopped. "Captain… I…" She slowly turned around trying to find an explanation for why she was here. But then decided not to give one for she found that she didn't need one. "Oh, yes I believe I did," She started still staying on the same spot "May I have it back please?" She continued now making a step towards him. She held out her hand for him to give it to her not daring to look at him "Certainly," He replied "If, you tell my why you are here." He looked at her but she still didn't look at him

"I don't have to explain you anything" She said crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I believe I am still your employer, which means you are still under my protection and I am still allowed to know about your whereabouts." He mimicked her actions also crossing his arms over his chest. She let out a small huff "Well, I believe I, do correct me if I'm wrong, resigned, didn't you read the letter I left you ?" She answered coolly. She took a deep breath trying to stay calm. "Maria," His voice suddenly changed to a much softer and compassionate sound rather than the tones his voice had before. "Maria, I just," He couldn't seem to find the right words "What have I done, to… to make you feel the need to run away?" Maria's calm mood drifted away as she felt the tears coming again. She bit her lip to fight her tears. "Oh… It was not something you did sir…" She started "I just needed to… to eh… Go back to the Abbey for a while!" Her head popped up as though a light bulb appeared above her head. Truth was she wasn't even sure if she could go back to the abbey not after the feelings she had experienced over the summer. That just wouldn't be right.

"Oh, and you could not wait until tomorrow to do so, fräulein?" His voice grew colder and he used the term fräulein again, but this time not in a playful tone but in the same cold one. She had a feeling he knew she wouldn't be going back to the abbey, but she couldn't tell him the real reason she left. She could never tell him what had happened before. He was probably going to marry the baroness before the summer was over. So there was no use in telling him what she said to her or telling him how she felt. To be honest she didn't really know how she felt. She never experienced this feeling before. It felt as though butterflies flew through her stomach by just looking at him.

"Are you going to give me an answer, fráulein, or are you going to let us catch more of a cold than we already have." His voice was blank and she couldn't hear his feelings in his voice anymore. "I don't know…" She softly started, looking at the ground "I'm sorry what was that?" his voice brought her head back up again "I said, I don't know." Tears started welling up in her eyes again "Well, you must know, because you are crying right this very moment. That must mean something." Georg inwardly cursed himself. That sounded harsher than when he thought of it in his head. "If you could just give me back my hat you can go back to your grand and glorious party, so you can help your cold with a nice flute of bubbly champagne and forget all your worries," She swallowed hard "That is what you want, isn't it, _Captain_?" She looked him straight in the eyes "If it wasn't pouring out you probably wouldn't even have come look for me. Not that I would have minded you not coming to look for me." _Liar._ She inwardly told herself.

"Maria of course I'd come looking for you!" something in him switched and his voice sounded warmer and more compassionate. "I'd do anything for you!" He was already talking loud but now he was practically screaming. Desperate to get his words out.

It grew silent only for the sound of the still ongoing rain. Maria looked at him before opening her mouth to speak again "You… You would?"

"Yes! I- I love you!" "you're in my thoughts, day and… Night… When I look at you I just sometimes feel the urge to run my fingers along the nape of your neck just fascinated by how short hair can look so good on a woman… And I happen to think your nose looks adorable!" George took a deep breath trying to get his breathing steady after his mouthful of words. All the things he said. She felt that way too! Now it all made sense to her!

"I feel… I feel that way too…" Maria softly said giving him a small smile. "When I look at you, I- I feel like butterflies are flying through my stomach… And I always wondered if it would feel soft or prickly if I ran my hand along your chin… And- And I really like that bit of gray hair at your temples, it makes you look very dignified!" In turn Maria also took a deep breath after her long line of words. Georg dropped Maria's hat to the floor as both walked towards each other stopping at just one step in between them. They both smiled as Georg's hand moved to the nape of Maria's neck and Maria's hand moved to Georg's chin

"and, does my chin feel soft enough?" He asked smiling down at Maria "Hmm" She hummed a satisfied yes before adding "does my neck feel like you thought it would?" Maria let out a little giggle "even better" He replied moving his fingers up and down the nape of her neck playing with the few strands of hair right below her ear. Before anyone could say anything more their heads moved together and Georg's lips softly touched Maria's. Maria could hardly stay standing and it was as though fire works went up around them. _If this was a movie, now was definitely a good time to play that good ending romantic grand finale number._ But both Georg and Maria knew there was a lot more to think of before that song could be played…

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hope you liked that! got tons of ideas for the next chapter so stay tuned for that!

oh, and reviews are always nice to recieve ;)

Happy reading!

Em


	2. Chapter 2

Hello my lovely readers,

First of all thank you so much to the people who left such wonderful reviews! You made my day! I've been struggling wether or not to portrait the baroness as a kind person or as a somewhat more vicious/mean person, but i think i've figured it out XD but you'll read more about her in the next chapters. Again, my grammar and spelling aren't flawless but I can live with that (for now)

Hope you enjoy this chapter, if you have any tips or constructive criticism I love to hear them to improve my writing, and of course all other notes you wish to leave behind in the review section are welcome!

Happy reading,

Em

PS: I'm thinking about changing the name of the story, if you have any ideas leave them in the review section or PM me if you have an idea or even if you have ideas for the story, I love you guy's input!

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As they pulled away Georg took both her hands and folded them tightly in his before bringing them to his mouth to softly kiss them. "Is this why you left?" He asked his hands still wrapped around hers. She softly nodded. "Wait," he walked up to her bags and picked them up. "If we go trough the gardens and take the backdoor no one will notice our, lightly, disheveled state" he smiled at Maria. To his surprise Maria took the carpet bag from him so that one hand was free for her to grab with her other hand. The rain had now almost magically stopped, but that didn't make the walking along the muddy road much easier.

Suddenly Georg stopped walking. "Maria…" He put her guitar case down and moved his hand to stroke her cheek "Marry me?" He asked his eyes searching for hers, but she didn't look at him. Instead of the happy smile he had been expecting her face looked troubled. "The party…" She softly started as though she was more talking to herself than to him. The baroness's words spooked trough her mind again. _There is nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him…_ _He should get over it soon enough I should think… Men do you know..._ "I… I… No… the baroness… she… I…" She winced away from his touch and took a step backwards. She kept mumbling "Maria..." She stopped mumbling once he heard him say her name "Maria, did the baroness say anything to make you this uncomfortable?" _Of course!_ Thinking back, he remembered seeing her walk up the stairs right after Maria went up. "Maria… The baroness… I was never in love with her…"

"of course not. Men will get over it soon enough." She looked at him "At least that's what she thought, that your little infatuation with me would blow over soon enough." Tears now started forming in her eyes and she used her hands in an attempt to wipe them away. She let out a sad chuckle before she started sobbing softly. "Please- please, can we go back to the villa?" She hated being in a vulnerable position like that "I'll stay until tomorrow morning, so I can say goodbye to the children" She grabbed her bag and started walking again. "Maria plea-" Georg tried

"Wasn't this party meant for proposing to the baroness anyway?" she cut him off "I am only in the way of things, only a little infatuation that will go over with time. You don't really love me captain. You only need me, momentarily." She stopped walking waiting for the captain to reply, but at first he didn't say anything.

"Did the baroness tell you that?" He asked his voice dark "what makes you think you can believe what she says over what I've just told you?" Still not wanting to turn around she stayed right where she was before speaking again "I... I don't know…" Maria looked down at her feet "To be quite honest with you captain, at the moment I really don't know anything, and I'd rather go back to the villa and not discuss this subject any further" She started walking again as did de captain, he quickly came to stand in front of her causing her to stop walking to make sure she wouldn't bump against his chest.

"Not discuss this subject any further?" His voice now grew angry "Maria, I just proposed to you!" Now even the captain was on the verge of tears "Whatever the baroness has told you, she is just, well, if anything very threatened by you" He now started pacing in front of her. Maria's naivety wasn't really making his explaining much easier "threatened? By me? I- Why would she be threatened by me?" She asked her brows knitting together due to her honest curiosity. "Simple, you're the only other female living under my roof, well except for my staff members of course," he started summing up Elsa's possible motives as he stopped pacing to stand in front of her again "She is obviously threatened by how well you handle the children and how much they like you," He smiled, he too noticed how smitten the children were with her "And I think by now she must have noticed that I find it quite hard to keep my eyes off of you…" He looked deep into her eyes. Her mouth made the o shape but no sound would come out, only a soft breath. She cleared her throat "But that's just it! You- you may not be able to keep your- keep your eyes off of me now," She was now blushing furiously "but that will all just blow over soon." She averted her eyes away from his.

"Maria, I have only felt this way with only _one person_ , I can't seem to stop thinking about you wherever I am, I dream about you at ni-" "Well then you must know that dreams are just a misconception of reality, and that how true to real life they may seem, that they never come true." She cut him off "Some Dreams can come true, you just need to believe in them!" Georg tilted her head to look at her again "Hmpf" She huffed "that's easy coming from your mouth, a retired naval officer having to do nothing for his money but just to sit on his butt all day! People like you make dreams come true by paying for them!" Maria had her fair share of broken dreams, and certainly didn't believe in dreams coming true "If all dreams came true, my wife would still be alive." He told her, his voice flat. "Oh- I- Captain- I-" She stuttered not sure what to say.

He moved closer "inheriting your fortune doesn't make you a bad man, and being in the navy isn't necessarily an easy job." She moved her head down. "I'm not saying that all dreams come true," He gave a sad smile "but sometimes you just need to dream the dream and find out if it came true afterwards" He lifted her head up to look at him again "I want to dream that dream with you, I want to be that proud man watching you walk down the Isle, I want to love you every day for the rest of my life" A tear rolled down her cheek and Georg used his thumb to wipe it away which made a soft smile appear on her lips. "Close your eyes," he told her letting out a chuckle he continued "I know it's not really easy standing outside in the cold, but close your eyes, and imagine your perfect life" She closed her eyes and focused really hard. She thought her mind would do the thinking and she would see an image of herself as a nun at the abbey but instead she saw a whole different image. She saw Georg and the children walking up to her mountain, picnic baskets and toys in their hands. A usual outing she presumed, but then she saw herself coming up. Instead of carrying a picnic basket of a toy of some sorts. She was carrying a baby. _A baby…_ Was this… their baby? It became clear when Maria handed Georg the baby and moved to stand on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on his cheek. _The perfect family._ Georg watched her tightly closed eyes and focused expression change as her eyes relaxed and there appeared a soft smile on her lips slowly growing bigger. She let out a contempt sigh as her eyes fluttered open.

"And, was that a dream worth dreaming" He asked her. _Was it a dream worth dreaming? Was that what she wanted?_ She bit her lip and softly nodded. He smiled as het took her hand in his and kissed it and then placed it to rest on his shoulder. Automatically as if she had already done so for years her other arm moved around his other shoulder so that her hands were touching behind his neck. At the same time Georg's hands had already moved around her waist. She leaned in standing on her tiptoes kissing him softly. He softly licked his his tongue over her bottom lip and like a key to a lock her lips opened and their kiss got more heated as Georg gently explored her mouth.

"Maria, I need to make a promise to you," He pulled away from their kiss "I'm going to talk to the baroness tomorrow, to tell her that I can not marry her" He stroked her cheek with his fingers "and then tomorrow afternoon I will ask you to come to the gazebo and ask you the question again, if you will marry me" Maria let out a small giggle "I think you should know the answer after," She moved her hand back and forth in the space between them "This" Now her cheeks turned a light peach color referring to the kiss they just shared "Even so, I want to do this proper, like you deserve, a proper proposal, not two words in the in the middle of a muddy road," right that moment it started raining again "In the rain…" He added with a chuckle

"hmm, I love you…" She started but she was not sure if she should call him by his name, but that quickly got solved by Georg adding it for her "Georg…" She repeated him "I love you… Maria…" he gave her lips a quick peck "The villa isn't that far, I think, from what I can make out of my surroundings" He laughed "So if we run now, we'll wo-" Maria stopped him "We already are wet no need to rush anything" She laughed "but I understand if you need to get back to the party of course…" _Right. The party._ For a short blissful moment he had managed to completely forget the party. "Maria…" he started "No, Georg, it's ok I understand" even though her face did show a hint of sadness she reassured him with a peck on the ckeek.

"lets go!" She said before grabbing her bag and his hand. Georg gave her hand a light squeeze as they started walking to the villa. "only one dance with Elsa and I can call this whole charade quits" He said more to him self than to Maria but she decided to say something about it anyway "How do you think she will react?" She asked "Hmm?" He mumbled because he didn't fully hear her question "The baroness, I mean, she must have been, I don't know, looking forward to this night and would be hoping for a proposal I suppose…" Georg was silent for a moment before starting to speak

"Well of course it would be best not to tell her about… what err, happened tonight," even though Georg didn't love Elsa he surely didn't wish her ill will. She, just as him, was a widow looking for a second time at marriage, but he couldn't spend his life running away from his pain in a loveless marriage that seemed convenient in their high class society. Georg hoped she would see it that way to and they could part in a civilized manner and he could announce his engagement to Maria in the papers one week later. But this could easily become one of Salzburg and Vienna's most talked about gossip.

"Maria, there is something you need to understand, high class society and its people, it's a cruel world full of gossip going around at the corner of every street and every salon." He sighed looking up at Maria with a sad smile awaiting her answer. "but what could they possibly be gossiping about? We didn't do anything wrong did we?" She looked up at him question written all over her face.

 _Oh Maria… My naïve Maria._

"No Maria, we didn't, but they don't know that," he squeezed her hand tighter "gossip goes fast and some people are willing to believe anything," he cleared his throat "Like how you seduced me into your bed and became with child out of wedlock and I was forced to marry you to cover up the scandal, or that I couldn't keep my hands to myself, that I became a rake again just like in my naval days, that I wasn't faithful to my wife when our ship docked in Italy or France or wherever, people can say hurtful things Maria" Georg gave Maria a sad smile "but we- I- You- I never seduced- nobody actually did any of it! Right? I mean you never…" Her last sentence faltered as she didn't know how to ask a particular question like that "Maria, I have been faithful to Agathe from the day we got married" He answered slightly angered at the thought of her possibly thinking otherwise "Sorry, I shouldn't have questioned you…" She looked down at her shoes "No that's ok, what I'm trying to say is, If you ever hear stories like that, Ignore them," He brought her hand up to his lips to kiss it "You and I, we know what's going on, and that's all that matters, even if the maids or staff members say anything, Ignore it." Maria slightly nodded her head in understanding "As for the engagement, I want to do it properly, I'll call my sister so she can be our chaperone" his sister Hede would come if he'd call her, and of course Max would be around for a while, but he wasn't really sure what good of a chaperone he would be…

"A chaperone?" Maria asked looking up at Georg "to cause as less fuss and gossip as possible, it would be best for there to be chaperone, besides Hede will love you, she can help you plan the wedding, she can help you find your new wardrobe… help you teach the ropes about being a Baroness and co head of a big household such as," he paused looking at her before adding " _ours_ ," she smiled at him " _ours,_ " She tried out the word letting it roll off of her tongue "Wait, find a new wardrobe? Plan the wedding? Georg I've never planned anything in my whole life! How will I be able to plan a whole entire wedding!?" Maria stopped dead in her tracks "Hede and Frau Schmidt be able to assist you with the planning, you'll do a great job" He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze "As for a new wardrobe, You'll need a some dress suites, new housedresses, a few nice evening gowns, som-"

"All that clothing, just for me?" She asked him not even being sure if she would be able to wear all those clothes even within a year! "yes _specially_ for you, a baroness" Georg simply answered her question "my love," he put his hands on her shoulders as he turned her around to face him "It will be alright, trust me," he kissed the top her head and he could feel her relax beneath his hands "you'll be there to help me too right?" He smiled "I'll be right there to spoil you every step of the way" he said in a playful tone "Not spoil me, help me!" She lightly slapped his arm "I knew what you meant," he chuckled "but sometimes you deserve a little spoiling" He grabbed her hand again and they started walking back to the villa. From where they walked they could almost see the the gates. "hmmm, I think that could be up for debate, and if so then certainly not all the time!"

Almost reaching the gates Maria felt herself getting more nervous for she didn't want to get caught wandering the grounds like this… with the captain… Georg could sense her uneasiness when her hand tightened in his grasp. "If we walk around this way and take the back stairs nobody will see us" He reassured her and it seemed to work for she let out a relieved sigh "But why have back stairs there, would seem rather useless for anyone to use wouldn't it?" Maria knit her brows together in curiosity "Well," Georg chuckled "If you must know, the only people really ever using it were me and my late wife, when we wanted to go for a… late night swim… in the err… lake… and when we didn't want to wander the grounds all…" before he could finish Maria's face turned bright red "Oh… Yes… a set of stairs like that might be useful in err… moments like that" Georg opened a small side door and motioned for Maria to go up "You go ahead to your room to get yourself cleaned up, I can come by a little later if you would like? To kiss you good night…" He whispered the last part in her ear She nodded her head at him "I'd like that" before making her way up the stairs

Once in her room she rested against her door letting out a deep sigh. _Could this really be happening?_ Maria made her way to her bathroom deciding to take a quick shower before putting her dress in the tub to soak.

Georg on the other hand felt he could use a long shower, preferably a cold one, but of course there was little to no time for that. He quickly decided to switch his suit and head back downstairs. _Did that really all just happen?_ Georg was beyond happy to know that Maria felt the same way he did. He fixed the cross around his neck before making his way down the stairs where at the foot stood a not so happy baroness…

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I wasn't really sure about the part where Maria kinda gets all angry at Georg with the "the trouble with you rich people" thing, but coming from a poor farmers family I think that could be a subject where she would be passionate about and I thought I would just add that in there.

Thanks for reading my story!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again for the lovely reviews!

I'm not really sure about this chapter, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting so yeah anyway hope you enjoy this nonetheless!

Happy reading,

Em

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"Georg!" She stamped her foot down "where have you been? You have been gone for more than an hour!" She gave him a very angry glare "One of the children wasn't feeling well so I had to see if they were all ok" he explained "Don't you have that governess for that?" she huffed _The one you tried to scare away…_ He mumbled under his breath "she has been working so hard that I thought she deserved a good night of sleep" he told her trying to stay as calm as possible "Ah the poor dear is tired? She doesn't really do much more than dance and sing with the darlings-"

"Elsa…" He warned her "alright, I do apologize," She extended her hand for him to take "Let's do one last dance" she said as she pulled him out into the ballroom.

As soon as the couple entered the ballroom Georg heard different people whispering "will he do it now?" one lady began "What, propose?" the other one said "one would assume so… But it seems the captain was occupied elsewhere…" a third women joined the conversation. Her comment made the two other women gasp "You don't mean…" the first women started again "Oh no! At least not that I know of, I haven't found any proof on that… no I overheard them talking that one of his children wasn't feeling well…" the two other ladies nodded before the other women leaned in and whispered softer "the captain told Elsa that he thought the governess deserved some rest… seems he finds her wellbeing more important then proposing to Elsa…" the woman continued which made the others in the group gasp again.

 _Starting already…_ Georg sighed to himself. "Isn't this just the loveliest get together?" Elsa started but Georg was far away in his thoughts "Darling?" she pressed again "Hmm?" Elsa managed to pull him from his thoughts "I said that this is just the loveliest little get together, don't you agree?" She furiously batted her eyelashes at him "Hmm, yes…" _little get together…_ Georg huffed. _This is what she calls a little get together?_ "Maybe It's due to the gorgeous night in general," she moved her hand a little up her shoulder to play with his earlobe "a beautiful night for beautiful things…" oh he knew where this was headed. Well that wasn't going to happen. "Elsa, as much as my friends loved meeting you and…" He sighed "I just want to tell you, I didn't intent on proposing to you tonight." Her face fell "The children-" He started but couldn't find the time to finish "It's always the children! When is it not the about the children!" Elsa hissed "I've found some perfect boarding schools for them to attend, it should all work out perfe-" _boarding school?!_ Now he had definitely had enough. He took Elsa's arm and pulled her out into the hallway "Boarding schools!?" he realized he talked a little too loud for there were several heads turned his way. Georg grabbed her arm again and dragged her into his study "Georg, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have talked about it so soon…" she said giving him a apologetic smile "Shouldn't have talked about it so soon? You shouldn't have talked about it at all." He glared at her "Do you really think I'm going to send my children off to some boarding school?" His expression got angrier "Georg, I'm sorry… I- I-" she bowed her head down "It's her isn't it? You love her… And not me…" suddenly Georg saw a different Elsa then the one he had spend this year courting. The usually very composed baroness was now staring at her feet fighting her emotions "Elsa I-" He tried to speak but Elsa cut in "No, Georg, I understand… To be quite honest with you, I was wondering when you would realize it," She gave a soft chuckle "That day I arrived, I could hear you two arguing while walking into the villa, and she was actually able to render you speechless!" Her lips grew into a soft smile "To add to that… I may have said some thi-"

"Oh I know what you've said." Georg cut in "You mean, she- she hasn't left the villa?" To Georg's surprise Elsa's tone sounded worried "Oh, she did leave the villa. That's where I was, I saw the note she left on the side table and went to find her"

"Oh thank god you'v-" she started but didn't get to continue for Georg started speaking again "Elsa have you lost your mind! You let her go out at this time of night in the cold rain?" Georg said anger coming with every word "Georg… I have truly no explanation other than that I- that I was very jealous," She started explaining her actions "during my time here I just saw it happening right before my eyes… I saw you falling in love with her" A tear rolled down her face "I just- I wanted to have that," She turned around not wanting him to see her cry "In the back of my mind I knew that we would never work out, but to see it fade so quickly, I just wanted it to last a bit longer, for just a few more moments I wanted to feel that I was part of something," She turned to him again "But seeing Maria with the children, I could never be a mother to them…" Elsa wiped her tears away with her fingers "Elsa, I'm so very sorry," Georg gave Elsa a apologetic look "I never meant- _never expected_ , for this to happen…"

"I know," She smiled at him "I never meant to wish you or Maria ill will, She is a wonderful young lady," guessing that they both had confessed their love already earlier this night she added "and I do hope you will consider inviting me to your wedding" She said giving a soft chuckle "Thank you Elsa I-"

"And I will apologize to Maria tomorrow morning before I leave for Vienna," She said looking at her feet, apologizing wasn't really her strongest suit "Well," she said after a silent moment "I think we should head back and say good night to our guests"

"yes I guess we should" Georg agreed with her making his way to the door "Georg," He turned around to look at Elsa "Thank you, thank you for the lovely time I had," She smiled up at him "thank you for letting me experience the great captain Von Trapp in his natural habitat!" she playfully added laughing to which Georg laughed too "Elsa, I do whish you all the best, and I know that there is someone out there for you" He gave her a sympathetic smile "Well let's go then" Elsa said making her way to the door when her hand just reached the handle Georg stopped her "and about th-"

"I will take care of it, I'll make sure we both come out of this whole… _Situation_... Unharmed" she gave a sad smile and Georg couldn't help but feel sad for how things turned out and for how Elsa all handled it in front of him. Elsa gave him a reassuring smiled before opening the door walking out into the hallway.

xx

Once all the goodbyes were said and all of the guests had left the villa Georg and Elsa both went to their rooms. But before Georg went to his room he paid Maria a visit.

He softly knocked on her door but when he didn't hear anything he slowly opened it. What he saw made him smile. The room was lit by only her bedside lamp and Maria was asleep with a book on her chest. She must have fallen asleep trying to wait up for him. He walked over her and quietly sat at her bedside. He folded the book close before laying it on her nightstand. He stroked her face with her fingers softly calling her name "Maria…" he felt her stir under his touch "Hmmm?" Maria still being in a state of sleep tried to open her eyes. When they opened she was greeted by a lovely sight. "Hello…" she said sleep evident in her voice "How did the rest of the night go…?" She wanted to sit up but her tired mind didn't let her do that "shh… non of that now, I only came to kiss you good night" He smiled before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her forehead "Go back to sleep my love…" He whispered and soon her eyes shut close again.

Xx

Just as Maria was making her bed the next morning she heard a knock on her door. She placed her nightgown at the end of her bed before saying: "Oh, come in, I'm dressed" She assumed it was Georg, but it was none other than the baroness.

"Good morning Maria," The baroness said closing the door behind her "B-baroness I-" Maria stammered out before being cut off by Elsa "Maria, I would like to talk to you, sit down, please" Maria hesitantly sat on the side of her bed "I have to apologize," Elsa started sitting next to Maria "Maria, I am very sorry for what happened last night," Maria wasn't really sure what to reply so she just nodded "I Should not have said those things to you, some of it isn't exactly true," Maria kept on listening occasionally nodding her head "you see, they were just words I said out of jealousy, I saw you and Georg falling for each other right before my very eyes, and-" She cleared her throat "I wanted that life, but I knew I couldn't have it, Georg didn't love me, and to tell you the truth I'm not really sure if I loved him"

"I just didn't want to be alone, and Georg just happened to be there at my loneliest times, but in fact we were both still alone, but now we were just alone together. A relationship like that doesn't last." She looked down in her lap "Maria, Georg… He loves you very much," Maria gave a shy smile her cheeks turning a soft pink "and by the look you're giving me you love him too," She softly nodded "I just, again, want to apologize, and I hope you and Georg will be very happy together, truly." Maria was about to speak up but the baroness added something for her "Yes, Georg and I have talked it over last night, Max will drive me to Vienna in half an hour," She gave a reassuring smile indicating that it was all ok. "oh, and then I'll be patiently waiting for that wedding invitation!" She added raising a playful eyebrow "Truly, no hard feelings," She stood up from the side of the bed as did Maria "Thank you, baroness" Maria said to the baroness "Please," She laughed "call me Elsa,"

"Thank you, _Elsa_ " she said again "Well my dear, I'll better be off" She stood up recomposing herself before making her way to the door "Elsa," Elsa turned around "I- I do hope you find someone, I _know_ you will find someone" She said smiling "Thank you dear" Elsa replied before going through the door leaving Maria alone in her bedroom. She sat down at her bedside with a heavy sigh. That was a lot to take in for one morning. She moved to grab her watch from her night stand when she noticed an envelope. Smiling she opened it. It read:

" _My love,_

 _I won't be having breakfast with you and the children because of some business I have to attend to in town, but I think you and the children will manage one morning without me._

 _I hope to see you at the gazebo at noon._

 _All my love,_

 _Georg"_

Maria let out a happy sigh before hopping off her bed walking out of the door.

Xx

"Good morning children!" Maria entered the breakfast room. The children in turn, all glanced at each other. They noticed their fräulein was even more cheerful than usual, and they weren't sure if that was even possible! "I'm sorry I wasn't there to wake you this morning," She said "Oh that's ok, father told fräu Schmidt to wake us so you could sleep a little longer"

"So how about we do our studies outside on the terrace today?" Maria suggested taking a bite of her toast "Can we?" Louisa asked "Why else would I've suggested it?" Maria smiled "And maybe we can stop a little early because the weather is so nice…" Friedrich tried "Yes!" Kurt added "Now don't push it boys!" Maria said laughing "But…" She looked at the children's pleading faces "I will consider it… IF you have all your work done!" she gave the children a serious look.

"Ok so, we need to work extra fast today, you heard?' Kurt instructed his brother and sisters "Kurt, I didn't say that, I still want you to do your studies properly" He lips formed a soft encouraging smile.

"Ohhh, okay…" Kurt let out a deep sigh as only 11 year olds could do. "Have all of you finished you breakfast?" Maria asked looking around at everyone's plates "Yes! lets get started, I can't wait for geography!" Brigitta excitedly said almost jumping from her chair "Wait," Maria called back to her "what do we say to fräu Schimdt?" She asked when she saw fräu Schmidt just entering the dining room "Oh right! Thank you for breakfast!" She called over her shoulder running outside with her brothers and sisters "Thank you," Maria told the housekeeper "no problem dear," She said starting to stack the plates up on her tray "Fräu Schmidt?" She asked taking one last strawberry before the bowl also got stacked on the tray "Do you by any change know why the captain had to go into town this morning?"

"No, I'm sorry dear, he hasn't said anything much this morning" She replied lifting the tray from the table "Oh, ok…" She said slightly disappointed that Georg could not attend breakfast this morning. Fräu Schmidt gave a quick nod and a smile before walking out of the dining room. _Was she really getting that nervous? What could he be doing in town that was more important than meeting her this morning? He said he would be back at noon, so why should she worry? How late is noon anyway?_ She quickly got up pushing her nerves, _healthy nerves, out of the way going to the terrace._

 _Xx_

"Why don't all you take a little break?" Maria suggested after a while of studying. Of course the children happily volunteered to have a little break. It was almost half an hour past 12 pm. _Ok, so technically it's the afternoon right now, would he already be at the gazebo? Or would he come by the house first?_ Well there was only one way to find out. "Children do you mind if I take a little stroll? I think I might need some fresh air," she said standing up from her chair "Liesl can you watch the little ones for me?" She turned around looking at Liesl "Oh sure fräulein," She replied curiously raising her eyebrows wondering if there was nothing wrong with their governess "I'm fine Liesl, I just want to stretch my legs a little" She reassured the young woman before making her way towards the garden. Every step she felt more butterflies in her stomach. Coming closer to the gazebo she let out a happy sigh. She could see Georg sitting at the small bench in front of the gazebo. Upon reaching him he smiled before saying:

"And here I almost thought you weren't going to show up fräulein…" he chuckled "Well, here I am" She replied softly smiling "I hope your business in town wasn't too important?" She asked "it was very important…" His expression turned into a smug grin "Come," He motioned for Maria to follow him into the gazebo "because," he stopped in the middle the the glass structure and Maria came to stand before him "I told you I wanted to do this properly," He started through one of the pockets in his jacket "So, I had to get you a ring of course" He pulled a red velvet box out of his pocket. Flipping it open it had a beautiful ring inside. It was a simple slim silver band with one small diamond right in the center "Oh Georg," Tears welled up in her eyes "You shouldn't have done that!" she gushed "yes I should have, and I did" Georg smiled up at her

"Maria," He cleared his throat "From the day you came into the villa you turned my household upside down," He smiled "In a good way, even though I didn't think so at first!" He chuckled. By now tears were slowly running down Maria's cheeks "and over the summer, I heard you sing, saw your beautiful smile, saw how much you loved the children… And before I knew it I was falling for you, which isn't very hard I might add" He smirked "Maria," he started but quickly stopped "I do need to do this the proper way don't I?" He said making Maria laugh through her tears He lowered himself down to one knee "Maria, will you marry me?" So caught up in her emotions she wasn't even able to speak. She nodded several times before a tearful 'yes' came out. Georg slowly put the ring around Maria's finger leaving a kiss right on top of it. He got up and Maria instantly wrapped her arms around his neck holding him tight. One of Georg's hands moved to stroke her back and the other to stroke her hair. He placed a soft kiss on her temple before Maria moved away with a big sigh. She smiled up at him before moving in to lightly kiss him. "Are you happy?" Georg asked her once he pulled away "Hmm" She nodded "Are you?" She asked looking up at him "Oh yes, definitely…" He he told her his hand moving to cup her cheek "You have no idea," He moved to sit on one of the benches in the gazebo "Oh I think I get the general idea" Maria giggled before sitting next to him "what do you think-" "the children will think of this?" He finished for her. She gave an unsure nod "Maria, don't worry, they loved you before and that isn't just going to stop, and besides I think I have two daughters who probably cannot wait to be flower girls!" Georg soothed her worries with his reassuring words "I promised the children the were allowed to stop their studies a bit earlier today because off the warm weather… I thought it would be nice to take them on a picnic, you can come if you want?" She suggested. The weather has definitely gotten better compared to last night and Maria thought it would be a nice surprise for the children "now I simply cannot decline, I've always wanted to go on one of your infamous picnics!" Georg laughed. Over the summer Maria came to love his laugh it was his warm soothing voice mixed with the sound of pure joy.

"Well, then it's settled!"

* * *

I first wanted to do the Elsa thing and the proposal seperate but the chapters would be kind of short if I did that so i decided to put them together :)

Please review :) they don't have that button for nothing XD


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